Can-capping machine



June 22 9 1926. 1,589,920

J. ALBERTOLH' CAN CAIFPING: MACHINE Filed Oct. 30, 1922 3 Sheets-$11 M 1 i/VVEN 727/? J. AL BERTULI June 22 1926. 1,589,920

J. ALBERTOLI CAN CAPPING MACHINE Filed Oct. 30, 1922 3 SheetsSheet 2 m Q K\ R ill I\ N a 3 i lNVE/VTUF J, AL 5E7? 704/ June 22 1926.

J. ALBERTOLI CAN CAPPING MACHINE Fi-led Oct. so

. 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VE/VTU/P AL BERTJL/ ATTIYS.

' liab readily and easily attached to various makes" matically stop the o eration of the machine.

Patented June 22, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN .ALIBERTOLI, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR TO SEATTLE-ASTORIA IRON WORKS, OF SEATTLE; WASHINGTON, A CORPORATION OF WASHINGTON.

CAN-CA PPING MACHINE.

Application filed October 80, 1922. Serial No. 597,828.

This invention relates to improvements in can double seaming or sealing machines and more particularly to means which will effectively control the operation of such machines and eliminate certain objections and difficulties at present encountered in the use of said machines.

The primary object of the invention is to provide, preferably in the form of an at-- tachment, means for automatically interrupting'the o eration of the machine in the event a can, t rough failure of the machine to operate properly, does not, have the cap seamed or sealed thereon. In double seamers it frequently happens that the means for moving the covers or caps into position to 1 be seamed or sealed upon the can, fails to operate with the result that the can having theusual filling, advances from the seamer without a cap and in'such manner that the contents of thecan is spilled. This produces an undesirable condition in and around the machine. In some instances, the cans which have not been scaled are advanced to the cooker. cessful continuous operation of canning machinery is interfered with and the attending objections are costly and time consuming. With my invention, the operation of the machine is automatically stopped should, for any reason, the can fail to have the cover or cap applied thereto at the proper point. An audible signal is given coincident with such operation so as to notify the attendant of, the failure of the machine to operate properly.

Another object of the invention is to provide an automatic stopping and safety device of the character described which is simple as to construction, inexpensive, re-

e in operation and capable of being of can capping onseaming machines.

The invention possesses other advantages and features some of' which, with the foregoing will be. set forth at length in the following description where I shall outline inshown one form of the construction of my invention, but it is to be understood that" I do not limit myself to such form since the In such cases the sueinvention as expressed in the claims may be embodied in a plurality of forms.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary side elemanner in which the caps control the operation of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of v a part of the deviceof my invention, the tnpping andoperating mechanism thereof. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary end view of the sealing machine showing in end elevation the device of my invent1on.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary to .plan view of a part of themechanism o my invention showing the manner of its connection and operation of'the control lever of a double seaming machine. Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of a part of the mechanism of my invention which is automatically operated by movement of the cover or cap which latter is shown in dotted lines.

In carrying out the invention, one form of which is shown in detail in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings I have illustrated portions of a well-known type of double seaming machine, I provide v ping the operation of the machine so that. should a cap or cover fail to be moved into position to be joined or seamed to the can, the mechanism of the invention will auto- One way in whic I carry out this is to provide a spring means normally tending to move the operating lever of the canning machine so as to stop the machine, which spring means is normally held against operation by mechanlsm is operated by the trip mechanism, which latter is actuated by the cans and caps. The trip mechanism includes a tri member which is engaged by the can an moved or rocked on its mounting.

trigger mechanism. The trigger.

When the machine is operating properly, the

trip member moves freely without operating the trigger mechanism. Should the machine fail to operate properly, that is, should a cap or cover fail to be moved into position to be applied to a can during the continuous eration of the seaming machine, by a cliitch arrangement associated with the trip member, said trip member will be engaged by the can and moved so as to operate the mechanism which releases'the trigger whereupon the spring means moves the control lever and stops the machine: Thus, it will be seen, that the continuous operation of the machine depends upon the proper advancement or movement of the caps or covers and cans into position to be sealed.

In the drawings, 1 designates the can feed mechanism of a can double seaming.machine, which mechanism 1 advances the cans onto a revolving table generally designated 2, during the movement of the cans by the member 1. Mechanism generally designated 3 separates one of the caps or covers 1, from a stack thereof and causes the said covers or caps to be moved onto atable or platform 5 and to be brought into osition to be ap lied to the cans. This mec anism automatlcally causes the cans and caps to be brought mto proper position as is well known in the art, and it is thought need not be described in detail. In some instances the mechanism 3 fails to move a cap or cover into proper position to be applied to the can and it is when this occurs that the device of my invention operates automatically to stop the machine.

The can cap ing machine is controlled by an operating ever 6 pivoted intermediate of its ends as at 7 to the machine. The device of my invention is connected with this lever and operated by movement of the can and the-cap as will be later described.

. Taking up first the description of the part of the mechanism of the invention which is associated with the lever 6, I prefer to attach a retractile spring 9 to one end of the lever 6, the other end of said spring being attached to some suitable part of the frame work of the machine, whereby said spring tends to move the lever so as to stop the machine. To hold the lever in position to permit the machine to operate, I provide tr gger mechanism generally designated 10, which mechanism comprises a plurality of straight links 11, 12 and 13. The link 11 is rigidly fastened'to the lever 6, and at one end is pivoted to the-link 12, which latter is pivoted to one end of the link 13. The link 13 1s plvoted as at 14 to a bracket or some other suitable element provided on the frame of the machine. When the links of the trigger. are 1n alinement, the lever 6 will be held against the action of the spring 9 in posit on to permit the machine to operate.

When the trigger is moved so that the links are inclined upwardly towards one end, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, or in other words, when the links are moved out of alinement. the spring will quickly 0 erate to 'move the lever 6 sothat the operatlon of the machine will be stopped.

To indicate to the operator that the machine has been brought to a stop, an audible signal, preferably a small clapper type bell 16, is jingled when the lever is moved'intov shutting off position. A brake element 17 is attached to the lever and operates when the lever is moved to shut off the. machine to brake against a pulley or revolving member 18 so as to bring the machine to an immediate stop. I

To operate the trigger 10, I employ a rod 19 vertically adjustably mounted in a bracket 20 attached to the frame work of the canning machine. This rod is slotted intermediate of its ends as at 21 and loosely receives in its slot a crank arm 22 which is fastened to a rotary shaft 23 suitably journaled on the frame of the canning mechanism. 'Theupper end of the rod 19 normally bears against the trigger where the links 12 and 13 are joined, so that when the rod is ushed upwardly the trigger will be released and permit the s ring 9 to operate on the lever 6. The sha 23' has a pinion 24' keyed thereon, which pinion meshes with a simllar pinion 25 carried on the upper end of an upright shaft 26. The shaft 26 is journaled in a suitable frame-supported bracket 27 and at its lower end carries a collar 28. A can trip member 29 is loosely mounted on the shaft 26 and extends at right angles thereto, said trip being supported b resting upon .the collar 28. This trip, 'sha 26 and associated parts are normally held in proper position, through the agency of springs 30 associated with the collar 28, and trip 29.

The trip 29 is normally disposed so as to be engaged by cans A, see Fig. 2.

A clutch sleeve 31 is vertically adjustable upon' the shaft 26 and has a notch 32 in its lower end, which notch'is adapted to receive a projection 33 extending u wardly from the trip 29. When the clutch is in engagement, the shaft 26 is rotated when the trip member 29 is moved. Upon such rotation of the shaft, the shaft 23 will be rotated through the gears 25 and 24. Rotation of the shaft 23 will rock the crank arm 22 and lift the rod 19 upwardly and thereby release the trigger 10.

Cover or cap operated mechanism is provided for normally holding the clutch 31 disengaged and permit of free movement of the trap 29, said means operating to permit the clutch to engage only when the cover or cap fails to be properly presented for sealing thereby preventing continuous operation of the machine to present a can which is necessary that t not sealed. 'I'his means comprises a tri' member 36 which is mounted on a shaft 3 journaled in bearings'38 on an extension of the bracket 27. The member 36 is disposed in the path of advancing caps shown at B in Fig. 2. As the caps are advanced the engage the trip36 and lift the trip upwar 1y causing the shaft 37 to turn. An arm 40 is fixed to-the shaft 37 and engages under an annular flange 41 on the upper end of the clutch sleeve 31. Thus, when the shaft 37 is turned, the lever 40 lifts the sleeve 31 upwardly disengaging the projection 33 from the notch 32, permittin the tri 29 to beturned freely on the sha 26 eac time that the can is advanced past the trip. Should a cap fail to be advanced in proper relation to a can, the trip 36 will not be operated and the clutch 31 will operate to cause the shaft 26 to be turned when the trip 29 is engaged bythe can, This as above described, operates, the trigger mechanlsm, releasing the trigger, causing the machine to be sto p(ped.. The cap 0' crate trip is dis osed so as to i be engaged y a cap before t e can tri is engaged. Thus it will be seen that it is he can engage the trip 29 in order to olperate the mechanism of my invention. nasmuch as thecap and can are advanced in alinement with one another to be sealed,iand the cap operates the trip 36 before the can engages the trip 29, the operation of the safety mechanism of my invention will be certain and reliable.

I claim:

1. The combination with .a can capping machine having means for advancin caps and cans to be sealed in said machine, of means for stopping and starting the machine, sprin means associated with said stopping an starting means and normally tending to operate said means so as to stop the machine, trigger mechanism normally holding said stopping and starting means in position to maintain the machine in operation, which trigger means operates against the action of said spring means and means 'for releasing the trigger means and permitting the spring means to operate, which last named means operates automatically upon failure of the: machine to move a cap into sition to be applied to a can.

2. he combination with a can. cappin machine having means for moving cans an caps preliminary to sealing caps upon the cans, of a stopping and starting lever controlling the operation of the machine, means tending to move said lever into stopping position, trigger means normally holding said lever in operating position, a can trip operated control members arranged to be member engaged and moved by cans during their advancement in the machine, means subject to operation by movement of the can trip member for'releasing the trigger mechamsm, a cap trip member to be engaged and moved by caps during advancement thereof in the machine, clutch means for operatively connecting the can trip with the trigger releasing means, which clutch means permits free movement of the can trip relative to the releasing means when a cap engages and moves the cap trip.

3. The combination with a can capping machine having means for advancing in proper relation caps and cans on which latter the caps are to be sealed, of a control lever, means at all times tending to operate the-control leverso as to sto the machine triggerimechanism normal y holding said lever in position 'to maintain the machine in operation and means for releasing the trigger mechanism in the event of the failure of the capping machine to cause a cap to be moved into position to be sealed onto a can.

4. The combination with a can capping machine having means for advancing in proper relation caps and cans on which latter the caps are to be sealed, of a control lever, means at all times tendin to operate the control lever so as to stop t e machine, trigger mechanism normally holding said lever in ition to maintain the machine in op ration and means for releasing the trigger mechanism in the event of the failure of the capping machine to cause a cap to be moved into position to be sealed onto a can, which means includes can and cap gaged and moved by caps and cans advancv mg in the machine.

5. The combination with a can capping machine having means for moving cans and caps in proper relation into position in the machine wherein the sealing or capping action is to take place, of a trip member which is engaged and moved by cans being advanced 1n the machine, of another trip member which is engaged and moved by caps advancing in the machine, which trip member is in a adapted to be operated by movement of the first named trip for stopping the operation of the machine and means which when the cap trip is engaged and moved by a cap will permit the can trip to move independent of the stopping means and which when a cap fails .to move and engage the cap trip will cause the stopping means to be operated upon movement of the can trip.

JOHN ALBERTOLI.

vance oHzhe first named trip, means. 

